Milled Silicon Oxygen Contamination Reduction via Solvent Treatment
Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in the milling process of silicon metal is its high sensitivity to impurities like oxygen and moisture, which existing methods struggle to completely eliminate, especially in milling systems that are not housed in inert atmospheres, leading to contamination and inefficiencies in dry rooms and glove boxes.
Innovation Solution
A milling system is designed with a reservoir, treatment columns for removing impurities, and a mill, where a nonaqueous solvent is recirculated through the system to remove water and oxygen, using desiccants like molecular sieves and catalysts to create an effective impurity-free environment, and the mill is configured to mechanochemically functionalize the material surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If existing methods using dry rooms and glove boxes are used to prevent contamination, then contamination control is improved, but cost increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes impurities (oxygen, moisture) directly from the solvent and system environment using treatment columns with desiccants and catalysts, eliminating the need for complex inert atmosphere containment structures like glove boxes and dry rooms, thereby maintaining contamination control while enabling continuous high-throughput processing
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces treatment columns containing desiccants and catalysts as intermediary components that actively scavenge impurities from the solvent and system atmosphere, serving as a mediator between the reactive silicon material and the environment, allowing open system operation without contamination while maintaining high productivity
2Manufacturing precision
If treatment columns with desiccants and catalysts are added to remove impurities, then purity of silicon metal is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment columns are designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: removing moisture via desiccants, removing oxygen via catalysts, and potentially filtering other impurities, all within single integrated components. This multi-functionality achieves high silicon metal purity without proportionally increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical state and composition of the treatment media (desiccants and catalysts) to actively transform and remove impurities from the system. By modifying parameters such as moisture content and oxygen concentration through chemical reactions, the system achieves high purity outcomes with relatively simple additive components
3Object-affected harmful factors
If nonaqueous solvent is recirculated through treatment columns and mill, then contamination is reduced, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The solvent recirculation system operates continuously, with the solvent repeatedly cycling through the treatment columns and mill. This continuous circulation maintains impurity removal efficiency and protects against contamination throughout the milling process without requiring intermittent high-energy operations, thereby reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining low contamination levels
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration significantly reduces or eliminates impurities, ensuring the silicon metal is processed in a clean environment, enhancing the milling process's effectiveness and reducing contamination, thereby improving the quality of the silicon metal produced.
Implementation Method 1
The treatment column may include a desiccant. In one instance, the desiccant may be 3 Å molecular sieves, 4 Å molecular sieves, 5 Å molecular sieves, 13× molecular sieves, activated alumina, or a mixture thereof.
Implementation Method 2
The treatment column may include molecular sieve desiccants and one or more of a copper catalyst for the removal of oxygen, or activated carbon.
Implementation Method 3
The treatment column may include molecular sieve desiccants and one or more of a copper catalyst for the removal of oxygen, or activated carbon.
Implementation Method 4
The milling system may include a recirculation pump configured to circulate the solvent or the slurry to the mill and return the solvent or the slurry to the reservoir.
Implementation Method 5
the mill is configured to triturate the material combined with the solvent
Implementation Method 6
The reservoir further comprises a mixer. The mixer may be, for example, an impeller, an agitator, or a recirculating pump.
Data Source
AI summary
A milling system which includes a reservoir shaped and sized to contain a solvent or a slurry including the solvent and a material to be milled, a treatment column in communication with the reservoir, wherein the treatment column is configured to remove one or more of water, oxygen, and/or other impurities from the solvent, and a mill in fluid communication with the reservoir, wherein the mill is configured to triturate the material. The treatment column may be fluidly isolated from the rest of the system during milling.